So you say you want a revolution? Well, bring your cell phone.

How could there be a gush of information and videos coming out of a bottled up country like Iran? It’s the times we live in; those interconnected, YouTube’n, friend me and I’ll be your BFF, 21st century times. Just a cursory glance at the videos coming out of the new Iranian revolution will show hundreds of everyday people holding up their cell phones and capturing every second of action.

A new generation

Did I know that 60% of Iranians are under 30? No. But it certainly makes sense when I watch shaky video after shaky video of what going on in Tehran every day. It’s a whole new generation that has grown up with the Internet, cell phones and CNN straight from the satellite. What’s a crooked government supposed to do? They’ve done there best to lock it down. They’re jamming signals, blocking internet traffic, and throwing reporters in jail as fast as they can, but there’re just too many regular people reporting like crazy. It’s just not fair, no one could run a bogus government in that situation.

The second wave

The second wave of media is even worse for that regime. Now, slick well edited pieces (probably done on Macs) are pouring forth, complete with hip and gripping soundtracks. I’m not sure even having Allah on your side, will help when sharp marketing gets involved.

It just goes to show you that the Internet and all those personal communication devices have done more to free the human race than all the wars that came before. Guns and long nightsticks are no match for a fervent college student with an iPhone. Although the Iranian authorities are giving it a good try, how many dead so far? Still, it’s hard to shoot people down when the rest of the crowd is taking your picture. Ever heard of Nuremberg? You can bet those thoughts are crossing the minds of quite a few police and militia in downtown Tehran today.

In the video below, count the cell phones that are recording the scene by the burning bus. I counted 14.

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About Prentiss Gray

Prentiss Gray is a writer and stay at home Dad with 27 years in the information systems and technology business. After the death of his first wife, he decided to stay home and care for his three sons. During that time he discovered that his life long passion for technology had new worlds to explore. Lurking throughout his home, fascinating technologies were just waiting to be investigated.
Little by little, he began to crack the enigmas of washing machines and vacuums. He worked diligently to break the secret codes of wireless telephones and kitchen faucets and fought to understand why toasters and rice makers needed chips more advanced than those that flew on the Apollo moon missions.
The ongoing battle is endless, but he has developed a new attitude toward domestic technology. To clear out the complicated, to shun the needless effort necessary to deal with devices and products that do not serve their owners as much as confuse and frustrate them. In short, to seek out the domestic products that are have excellent quality, a reasonable price and are truly intuitive to use. His new battle cry is “If you have to read the manual to use it, I don’t want one.”

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